Livelihoods, Poverty and Food Security

Food insecurity and chronic poverty are among the inadequately addressed challenges bedeviling a number of people in sub Saharan Africa. According to Chambers (1989) livelihoods are secure when households have secure ownership of, or access to, resources and income earnings, including reserves and assets, to offset risks, ease shocks and meet contingencies. In this research focus area, researchers could investigate, among other forms of security, economic security (in terms of income, skills and times), nutritional security, educational security, habitat (in terms of shelter and environment), food, health (in terms of mother and child care, water and sanitation) and community participation (in terms of gender, ethnic groups, religious issues). The focus of the research in this theme is largely on vulnerable groups like the elderly persons, women, and children—in relation to aspects of malnourishment, sickness and child labour, early school dropouts, early marriages and female-led households, coping mechanisms human and other forms of capital and capabilities. The unit of analysis for most of the topics in this theme would be the household, but the scope could range from a group—such as old persons or refugees—to a community or nation or region. The contexts most relevant to this research focus area include, but are not limited to disaster, displacement, conflict/ post-conflict settings, unemployment, urban slum and rural setting, and the effect of the COVID/19 Virus epidemic on the social economic life.